


O-O-H Child, it'll get better or some inspirational shit like that

by spideyandstark



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - quill's walkman doesn't get squished bc i'm salty about it, Anxiety, Author Whumps The Spider Kid Again, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sensory Overload, but it's okay bc he's got musical space dad, tony is on earth so it's down to this idiot, wtf is a zune
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14827308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideyandstark/pseuds/spideyandstark
Summary: Spider-Man has its downfalls, and sensory overload happens to be one of them. Music helps him through it.Or, the one where Peter's earphones are still on Earth, and Quill has just the remedy.





	O-O-H Child, it'll get better or some inspirational shit like that

The ship’s a mess, and Quill knew this before Gamora pointed it out, and before he compared its interior to a Jackson-Pollock painting, and before Rocket went hurtling over a stray crate (a moment that Quill has not let the quote-unquote _raccoon_ live down) — but Quill does not expect his mess to be the reason he comes downstairs to find a spider-enhanced kid curled up by the seats, pale fingers gripped tightly around his ears.

Peter had appeared back on Titan last, with Quill standing over him with an outstretched hand. He’d promised to take him back to his dad. Peter didn’t bother correcting him.

So now Quill has two options. His first is to slowly back up the stairs like he never saw the kid, but that makes his heart turn with nausea because he thinks for a fleeting moment that he can send Gamora down to deal with it, but Gamora is gone and Drax and Mantis aren’t the best with the heart-to-hearts, even if one of them’s an empath. As for the Doctor guy, he keeps vanishing and appearing again on different parts of the ship, and sometimes he's not there at all, and maybe he's never made a portal across time and space before, but he's getting closer. 

That leaves option two - Quill mans the _F_ up and talks to the kid.

(He imagines Rocket elbowing his knee and offering him that god-awful wink as he says: “Secret third option, Quill. You throw yourself into space, ain’t no problems out there.”)

Swallowing his pride, he walks over to the tangle of shaking limbs and sits opposite, crossing his legs and clearing his throat. Peter's eyes flicker up to meet his, and the kid instantly tries to relax, prying his fingers from his head - but then he winces and they come back up again, and he buries his face in his knees in embarrassment.

Quill wonders if this is something to do with the Iron Man.

"Hey, uh, kid," Quill starts. "Peter, right? Yeah. Same name. Awesome. But irrelevant," he adds.

Peter doesn't move.

"Yeah, okay." Quill drums his fingers against a box absently, then watches as Peter flinches and quickly retracts his hand to his side. It's the noise. He looks at the kid's face, eyes squeezed shut, skin pinched tight in pain, and realises that his ship is _too much_. He lowers his voice the next time he speaks. 

"You need something to block it out?" he asks, and Peter gives a fumbling nod, and Quill leaps to his feet. 

He finds Drax upstairs, sitting in the pilot seat while he eats some sort of exotic fruit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude! What did I tell you about eating in the seats?" Quill exclaims as he reaches the large, curved window displaying the myriad of close-lit stars. 

Drax takes another bite, and offers him a purposeful stare. "I don't know. I wasn't listening."

Quill pinches his nose. "Yeah, how about _to not to_. Come on, man, you're getting my seat all sticky."

The aforementioned alien looks down at the seat and shrugs. "It was like that when I got here."

"No it wasn't!"

"Quill." Drax narrows his eyes. "Since when have you cared about the state of your ship? It is filthy."

_Since ten minutes ago, when some kid lightyears from home started freaking out because all this filth is too much input-_

"Doesn't matter. You got a blindfold or something?"

Drax contemplates the question as he takes another few _excruciatingly slow_ bites, and Quill watches him hopefully, buzzing with energy, before Drax eventually settles on: "No."

Quill sighs and walks away. Drax is still eating in _his_ goddamn seat.

He almost runs out into space as the Doctor appears again - a swirling girdle of yellow-tinted sparks flashing in bright contrast to the emptiness beyond - and gasps in a shuddering breath. Quill steadies him in surprise. Strange's forehead hosts a thin sheen of sweat.

"Did you make it?" he asks stupidly.

"Does it look like I did?"

Quill narrows his eyes, ready with a snark comeback, but he abruptly snaps his mouth shut as he notices the shroud of red tracing comforting patterns on Strange's subtly shaking hand.

"Dude," he says, "I need your cape."

"First of all, it's a _Cloak_ , and -"

"You know the spider kid? He's having some sort of panic attack, he needs something to block out stuff, or -"

Strange raises a hand to stop him, his interest piqued, and a hint of concern underlaying his sharp features. "Where is he?"

"Yeah, I'll show you."

They rush back downstairs and find Peter in the same spot, his head now tilted back against the wall, and his eyes squeezed shut as he takes in shallow breaths. Strange ducks down to his level, and the Cloak comes off effortlessly, forming a spacey sort of dome around Peter's head. Strange sits outside of it and takes Peter's wrist, mentally counting his pulse, his lips pulling into a thin line at how fast it is. 

"Do you have anything to cancel out noise? Maybe a replacement?"

Quill's eyes widen. "Oh-ho-ho, _yes_."

He takes off to his room and returns with a pair of headphones and his Sony Walkman. Strange quirks an eyebrow, but inclines his head to Peter. Quill ducks under the Cloak, and Peter glances at him - seeming less pale, more focused - and smiles weakly.

"Hey, Mr. Lord. I'm sorry -"

Quill smirks. "Star-Lord. Also, no apologies. Now," he grins, "you're gonna love this, kid."

Peter registers the Walkman with a strange concoction of emotions, but he seems impressed above all. Then he says: "That's _so_ old."

The Walkman goes back to Quill's chest on reflex, his eyes narrowing in mocking hurt. "I'm officially offended."

Peter laughs. "But it's cool!"

Quill rolls his eyes but he doesn't bother hiding the grin that tugs at the corners of his lips. He gently leans across and pulls the headphones over Peter's ears, lowers the volume and expertly sets it up. Peter's eyes light up as the soft music filters through the device, and his muscles relax instantly, and Quill's smile widens. 

And Peter stays in his headspace, the gentle red of Strange's Cloak backlit by the overhead lights, casting an orange-tinted glow on the slate grey beneath his legs, and later, after Peter's up again and rambling the ears off of anyone within ten feet of him, Quill hears the kid in the cockpit, leaning back in his chair, eyes shining with constellations, mouth humming gently the chorus of an old eighties hit, and as the ship trembles on, his heart sings of stardust. 

(Quill later remembers that Mantis can calm people down, but he doesn't regret a thing.)

**Author's Note:**

> anyways these two are adorable fight me


End file.
